Local Mounties are trying figure out who’s responsible for leaving pails of hazardous chemicals at a construction site in South Burnaby.
Police got the call about the pails from the fire department Monday afternoon, at a residence under construction in the 4200 block of Rumble Street.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis said a hazmat team is testing the chemicals, but suggested there are indications the pails come from a clandestine drug lab.
He noted police have found a number these sites recently in the area south of Metrotown. In the case of Monday’s discovery, he said investigators can’t trace the chemicals to anyone, but they don’t believe the home owner is involved. There was no one living in the home at the time.
“It follows a pattern that these things are dropped off at places where they’re not seen for a while,” Buis told the NOW.
The area police are looking at is south of Kingsway, west of Gilley Avenue and east of Boundary Road.
Buis said the chemicals could not only be dangerous if they’re opened by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, but they could also harm the environment if spilled.
“Anytime people are dumping anything or leaving a large amount of pails like this - 40 or 50 pails of chemicals - to contact police,” he said.
In March, Delta police led an investigation that shut down a major fentanyl lab in a complex in the 6800 block of Prenter Street, not far from the zone where police are investigating the chemicals.
The apartment was described as a fentanyl processing lab, which means people were taking the drug and turning into something that can be sold on the street. It was also described as the biggest fentanyl lab in B.C. to date.
